This species was endemic to Guam. Only three specimens were collected, the last being shot by hunters in 1968. Despite intensive field work on the island’s fruit bats, there have been no confirmed records of the Guam Fruit Bat since that time. There was a possible sighting of the species in the late 1970s (G. Wiles pers. comm.).

It was hunted locally as a food source, and this is thought to have been the main factor leading to the demise of the species. The introduction of the predatory Brown Tree Snake (Boiga irregularis) to Guam possibly contributed to the extinction of this species.